"Question: why did they let Larry tryout when he obviously wasn't 28?"

Well, I can only guess that there is some kind of pre-audition, and they probably told him that he was too old but they would like him to appear anyway, just for the entertainment value of his performance.

And the first thing I thought, kat, was that if that had been the age limit in Britain, Susan Boyle would be unknown today.

The real tragedy, though, if anyone saw the entire show, was the young girl, I think about the 4th or 5th to audition, who was so eager and so confident, and they told her she was terrible, and she was absolutely crushed, my wife was in tears along with her.